Great News! Health Update 2010

Morgan and I received good news at her gastroentorologist appointment today! I took Morgan to her appointment only to find that her stool is no longer testing positive for blood after nearly a year of constant positive results. Daniel and I have been giving Morgan a couple of ounces of milk for the last couple of weeks according to doctor's orders. We tested her stool after she had been exposed to milk and still no sign of blood. Blood in the stool usually means a food allergy. Morgan is now able to eat a regular diet and no longer has to be on Nutramigen. Dad and I are so relieved especially considering a can of Nutramigen, which doesn't even last a week, costs $21. That's not including all the jars of pureed food Morgan was going through. Pureed food was the easiest to feed her other than fruits and vegetables because the majority of it doesn't have milk or soy. Tonight it felt so good to give Morgan little bites of the dinner Daniel and I ate. Morgan got to try pizza for her first time! She ate every bite.

I can't explain what this news means for me. It makes me feel like I have a little bit more of the normalcy most other parents have been experiencing all along. It's been such a roller coaster with Morgan with health setbacks and it just feels so good to get good news. Don't get me wrong, I realize how blessed I am, but to say that it hasn't been difficult at times would be a lie.

There are only two other health issues we're dealing with now. Morgan is still neutropenic which means her body doesn't produce as many white blood cells as it should. None of her doctors are concerned though because Morgan is proving to have asymptomatic neutropenia, which means her neutropenia doesn't negatively affect her in any way. Our Children's Hospital here says that they have numerous cases each year of children who have neutropenia but don't have any complications because of it. The doctors say that these children grow up to be healthy adults with no complications. They believe this is Morgan's case because she doesn't get sick more than any other child. We'll just have to take her in from time to time to do blood tests so that the doctors can monitor her.

The last health issue we're dealing with is the idea that Morgan may have a rare blood disease that runs in our family. A geneticist at our Children's Hospital believes Morgan and I have HHT. We're in the painstakingly slow process of testing her for this. This disease could be what caused her to lose so much blood while in utero and could be the reason she has had blood in her stool for most of her short existence on this earth. To simplify the explanation of this disease, HHT causes you to bleed internally and the biggest fear is an aneurysm type situation. People with HHT just need to have yearly exams to look for potential bleeding sites in the brain and lungs. If there is a problem then they can fix it surgically. The severity of HHT really varies from person to person. For instance, if Morgan has this disease it means I have it because I have to have it to pass it on to Morgan and I've never even had symptoms. Honestly I'm totally okay. Like I've said before, I've grown so much this year and have really grasped the idea that this is out of my control, which means I can't worry about it. I just try to make the most of every minute because worrying really won't change anything. Daniel and I are so blessed to have such an amazing little girl. Morgan of course is great because she has no clue what's going on except for going to annoying doctor's appointments all the time and Daniel has been amazing. God blessed me with someone who can just be so positive and confident in Morgan's situation from minute one. Daniel through all of it has been nothing but strong and has never worried. He will accept no other truth than she is 100% okay and will always be that way.

Please don't take this blog for more than it is because to look at Morgan you would never know she may be dealing with a couple of issues. She really is a happy, healthy, normal baby girl. It seems so serious when you put it into writing but I promise we're all great and this just happens to be our situation. Everyone has their own unique situation they deal with at some point.